Paleontological inaccuracies within The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time series bears countless inaccuracies in its depiction of the Mesozoic Era. The following lists contain the various inaccuracies sighted by fans. The series itself *Due to the series' setting in what is presumably intended to be the Maastrichtian age of the late Cretaceous Period (72.1 – 66 million years ago), many of the animals featured are misplaced, both in time and space. Within the main cast, examples include: **Littlefoot, his Grandparents, his mother, Bron, Pat, Old One, Ali, Ali's Mother, and Rhett the Apatosaurus (hailing from the Tithonian stage of the late Jurassic period, 152 to 151 million years ago). **Petrie, his mother, and Pterano, the Pteranodon (despite P. longiceps living in the late Cretaceous, it lived in the Santonian age, from 86 to 84.5 million years ago). **Spike, Tippy, Tippy's Mother, and the Spiketail Leader the Stegosaurus (Stegosaurus lived, roughly, in the same time span as Apatosaurus.) *Most theropods, most notably dromaeosaurs (referred to as "Fast Biters" in the television series), lack a feathery coating likely present in many coelurosaurian theropods. However, the series' portrayal of Tyrannosaurus being featherless is somewhat accurate as recent evidence suggests large tyrannosaurs mostly lacked plumage (they probably still had feathers on their backs and on their arms). *In early films, theropods, most notably tyrannosaurs, are often shown standing and walking in a tripodal pose, with pronated, "kangaroo" hands, whereas modern paleontological thought dictates that theropods stood and walked with its body approximately parallel to the ground (although theropods are sometimes shown with this posture in some scenes). Though the issue of tripod dinosaurs has largely regressed (though not entirely), the issue of hand pronation persists into recent films. *Ceratopsians, sauropods, stegosaurs, and ankylosaurs throughout the franchise are depicted with elephantine forefeet. They are also frequently portrayed with low-hanging tails, when they should have elevated tails. *On occasion, sauropods (notably Littlefoot's grandparents in certain scenes) can be seen up to their abdomens in water. The hypothesis that sauropods were primarily aquatic was debunked long ago, even before the films came to be. Although this is not necessarily inaccurate as it is possible sauropods would have sometimes entered water to cool off, just as large terrestrial animals do today. **Similarly, hadrosaurs, or "Swimmers", obtain their names from their largely marine lifestyles within the series. Hadrosaurs are not known to have been aquatic, or even semi-aquatic. *Sauropods are incorrectly depicted with nostrils on the top of their heads. They are also portrayed chewing their food, which real sauropods are incapable of. *''Apatosaurus'' in the series have some noteworthy mistakes. **The tail is incorrectly shaped. It should be very long and whip-like. **The skulls of most Apatosaurus are shaped like that of a Camarasaurus, when they should be shaped somewhat like a horse's. The only exception to this are Littlefoot's parents, whose heads are shaped more like that of a real Apatosaurus. **The necks are rather thin. Real Apatosaurus, along with Brontosaurus, have very muscular necks. Also, while this is fairly recent, some paleontologists have suggested the necks might have possessed 2 rows of keratinous spikes underneath, based on an idea the necks were also used as weapons due to their muscular build. *The armor of Ankylosaurus is incorrectly designed. It should not have large spikes protruding from its sides and its armor osteoderms should be more smoothed and variable in size. *Most ankylosaurs in the films are portrayed with splayed limbs, when they should have their legs held underneath their bodies like all dinosaurs. **Similarly, ceratopsians and stegosaurs are shown having their front legs sprawled like in outdated portraits, instead of having them erect. *Ceratopsians, stegosaurs, ankylosaurs, and hadrosaurs are primarily given no keratinous beaks like in outdated portraits. *Nearly all animals throughout the franchise are depicted with having small ridges on their backs, even when the real animals do not possess anything that would suggest the presence of a ridge. *''Tyrannosaurus'' and its relatives would have had rugosities or bosses on the skull, in contrast to the franchise. *Petrie and his kin are often shown eating Tree Stars or other greenery throughout the series, while real Pteranodon were more likely to consume fish. They also would have webbed feet, as they were strong swimmers as well as flyers. *In general, pterosaurs throughout the series have several inaccuracies. **Beginning in , pterosaurs are depicted as largely bipedal. The skeletons of pterosaurs were built to accommodate quadrupedal locomotion on land, not bipedal,They are also anthropomorphic and are recently given four fingers. **Most of the pterosaurs seen in the franchise are somewhat lacking in pycnofibres, the fur-like structures that covered the body of the real animals. They are usually portrayed with a body covering (given the darker shading), a ring of fluff around the neck, and a naked head, similar to modern-day vultures. The only exception to this is Dimorphodon, which is depicted with a full coat of them in The Land Before Time,They are recently given no pycnofibres at all. **Pterosaurs generally have thin, un-muscled necks as opposed to the robust necks of real pterosaurs. **Pterosaurs also display extended parental care (though like real pterosaurs the young fly from birth). *Most of the dinosaurs, barring some of the more recently designed creatures, are seen with noticeable ears, when in reality, a dinosaur ear was just a hole on the side of its head. *Most hadrosaurs in the films are seen primarily walking on two legs. While they could do this in real life, hadrosaurs were most comfortable on four legs, only standing up on two legs in order to run away from predators. All the hadrosaurs are also portrayed with visible fingers, when in reality the fingers were embedded underneath the skin and fused into a hoof-like structure. *The tail spikes of stegosaurs are portrayed pointing upwards, rather than sideways. *The Stegosaurus are depicted with rather short necks, but now that a mostly-complete specimen was discovered in 2014, their necks would have been fairly long in real life. *Several ornithischian dinosaurs are depicted without extensive cheeks, although there are exceptions such as on the Iguanodon. *''Struthiomimus'' and Ornithomimus ("Egg Stealers") were most likely not egg-thieves, as depicted in the films. They should also be covered in ostrich-like feathers, with wings covering their arms. *Feathered dinosaurs are shown having their wings ending at the wrist. In real life, the wing is all the way attached to the second finger. *The Pachycephalosaurus seen in the series are generally seen walking more upright. In real life, like with most bipedal dinosaurs, Pachycephalosaurus walked completely parallel to the ground. They also have large forelimbs with four-fingered hands, when they should have small forelimbs with five-fingered hands like all pachycephalosaurs. *Tar pits are seen throughout many of the Land Before Time films. However, tar pits didn't form in the Mesozoic era. They first formed in the Cenozoic era, the age of mammals. They are also usually shown as a big pool of tar, however real tar pits had a layer of water or sand over the tar. A more accurate choice would have been quicksand or mud, which is known to have trapped several dinosaurs in Mesozoic times. *Grass is frequently seen in the films, though it didn't develop until the Cenozoic era. However, ancestors of grass have been found in fossilized titanosaur dung. *Most theropods in the films are given prominent breasts. *Most creatures in the films are fatter than the real animal. From (1988) *A Dimetrodon is seen shortly after Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie befriend each other. Dimetrodon was a synapsid; a close relative of mammals which lived during the early Permian period, from 295 to 272 million years ago, long before dinosaurs came to be. The Dimetrodon is also portrayed with a forked tongue akin to a snake's or a monitor lizard's, something the real animal never had due to its close relationship with mammals. Furthermore, new studies show that the tips of the animal's spines would be exposed and could be seen outside of the sail. In addition, Dimetrodon could have been somewhat more mammalian in appearance than in the film and could not have a lizard-like gait. *It is highly unlikely that the "Domehead" dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus, shown pursuing Cera, was openly predatory. However, some scientists have proposed that P. wyomingensis was omnivorous due to the shape of its teeth. Perhaps noting this, one of the novelizations depicts the attack as a revenge strike in response to a previous slight. **Similarly, the Pachycephalosaurus are also depicted with sharp, dromaeosaurian claws on their feet and hands. In reality, pachycephalosaurs had small claws, unlikely to be of much use. This is fixed in later appearances. *The Proganochelys in this film has a frog-like tongue and has a quadrupedal lizard-like gait, neither of which the real animal had. *The Megalochelys in this film tries to eat Ducky despite being a herbivore. It is also portrayed with a jagged mouth, which the real animal did not have. *Petrie is seen climbing a tree in this film, which a real Pteranodon were unable to do. *The main characters are seen hatching out of their eggs in under a minute, while real animals usually take several hours to hatch. This was probably done to speed up the pace of the movie. *''Tyrannosaurus'' is not believed to have been able to jump the way Sharptooth is shown jumping in the film. This may have been based on Ceratosaurus jumping in a Ray Harryhausen and Willis OBrien film/documentary about animals, including dinosaurs, The Animal World (1956). *Sharptooth is seen standing and walking up straight, whereas modern paleontological thought dictates that Tyrannosaurus stood and walked with its body approximately parallel to the ground (although Sharptooth is sometimes shown with this posture in some scenes). *The Triadobatrachus which Littlefoot encounters is seen as being able to jump, causing it to be called a "Hopper." However, the back legs of the real animal weren't strong enough to allow it to jump. *The Edaphosaurus seen fleeing from the earthquake have sharp teeth and a tall sail, similar to their close relative Dimetrodon, unlike the peg-like teeth and shorter sail of the real animal. Like Dimetrodon, they should also have a more mammalian appearance and a less lizard-like gait. *Rooter looks little like a real Scolosaurus, having a nonexistent stubby horn on his snout and two spiky prongs on his tail club, akin to early depictions of the animal. In fact, one novelization of the film calls him an old turtle. In real life, Scolosaurus would have been identical to Euoplocephalus (which it was formerly synonymous with) but with longer, downward-facing horns. *The Dimorphodon in this film have no teeth, a smaller head and beak, and lack the diamond-shaped vane on the tip of the tail that the real animal had. *The Steropodon depicted in the film has large ears, a feature which the real animal did not have. It also appears mouse-like, while the real animal looked more like a modern platypus. *The Diplodocus have tails are too short and lack the whip-like shape. This is fixed in later appearances. Interestingly, the Diplodocus in this film are depicted having beak-like mouths (omitted in later appearances), which have been recently confirmed to be possible in sauropods. From (1994) *Beginning in this film, Spike (a Spiketail) is, oddly, depicted without a thagomizer. *Chomper, the baby Tyrannosaurus, should have a more slender skull and body, and possibly a layer of down. He's also missing a dewclaw on each foot, in contrast to his parents. *The Nothosaurus in this film is portrayed as having a long serpentine body and a line of spikes running down its back, giving the the animal a draconian appearance. Though Nothosaurus did have a streamlined, otter-like body and was well adept for swimming, its body was unlike that of a snake, and did not have spikes on its back. The habitat of the animal is also depicted as barren and slimy, but in reality, Nothosaurus lived in a lush ocean ecosystem. *The Scutosaurus in this film is depicted with a horn on its nose, which the real animal did not have. *The Moschops in this film is depicted with a beak, which the real animal did not have. *The Euoplocephalus in this film has armor that looks nothing like what the real animal had. It possesses nonexistent large spikes along its sides, and its osteoderms are much too smoothed over. *The Kuehneosaurus seen in the opening of this film is depicted with "wings" similar to those of a flying squirrel, when it actually had "wings" similar to those of a draco lizard. *The Plateosaurus seen in the opening of this film is shown with a tripodal stance, when it actually held its spine horizontally. It is also shown with theropod-like hands with three long fingers, when the real animal had vaguely human-like hands with five fingers and a claw on its thumb. From (1995) *More anachronistic main characters: **Hyp, the Hypsilophodon (from the Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous, 130 to 125 million years ago). **Mutt, the Muttaburrasaurus (from the Albian and Cenomanian ages, in both the early and late Cretaceous, 112 to 96 million years ago). **Nod, the Nodosaurus (Nodosaurus lived in a similar time span to that of Muttaburrasaurus, 100 to 97 million years ago). *The film's Velociraptor is depicted as almost identical in appearance to the raptors from Jurassic Park, far more closely resembling Deinonychus than any known Velociraptor ''species. In reality, ''Velociraptor had a long skull with a narrow snout, was the size of a coyote, had feathers covering a good portion of its body (including wings and a tail fan), and was not nearly as intelligent as portrayed in the film. *Hyp and his father hardly resemble real life Hypsilophodon. They are very large for their proposed species, and have rigid, defined jaw lines. Hypsilophodon was, in reality, not much larger than a medium sized dog, and had a small beak. Impressions from other, similarly sized ornithischians also suggest that H. foxii was covered in a layer of spiny down. *Mutt looks more like a generic hadrosaur than a Muttaburrasaurus, the iguanodont genus that he is based on. However, it is now believed Muttaburrasaurus would have been bipedal and not have a thumb spike, like how Mutt is portrayed. *The Iguanodon are missing the prehensile "pinkie" used for grabbing, and its iconic thumb spike is less pronounced than in real life. These mistakes persist in later appearances. *The two Dromaeosaurus seen in this film are significantly less feathered than their real life counterparts, only having a set of quills running down their necks. The Ornitholestes shown in the film share the same issues. *The five Bananogmius seen in this film have much shorter sails compared to the real animal. It is also unknown how they can survive in freshwater, seeing as they are a saltwater species. *The Hypacrosaurus is portrayed without a duck-bill. Its crest should also be shorter and rounder. From The Land Before Time IV: Journey through the Mists (1996) *Main character anachronisms: **Dil, the Deinosuchus (Deinosuchus is only known from the Campanian stage of the late Cretaceous, 80 to 73 million years ago). **Ichy, the Ichthyornis (Ichthyornis lived from the Cenomanian up until the Coniacian, 95 to 85 million years ago). *A Hydrotherosaurus appears as a Swimming Sharptooth in the film. Hydrotherosaurus only ate small fish, and would not attempt to attack a Deinosuchus like Dil. It also appears in freshwater despite being a saltwater creature. Finally, it is also able to lift its entire neck and much of its body out of the water, while the real animal, and all plesiosaurs in general, could only lift their head out of the water before gravity and their weight pulled them back down. *Ichy, the Ichthyornis seen in this film, lives far away from the ocean and tries to attack small dinosaurs, while the real animal was a seabird and ate mostly fish, though it would likely have scavenged washed-up carcasses if necessary. *The Mosasaurus in this film has a short tail with no tail fluke, unlike the real animal. A recent study has also concluded that many marine reptiles, like Mosasaurus, were black in color, while the animal in the film is a stone grey. *Archie, the Archelon seen in this film, lives in a cave far away from the ocean, the location where the real animal lived and found its food, and is depicted as being able to hide in his shell, which is something Archelon is unlikely to have been been able to do. He is also temporally misplaced; Archelon lived in the Campanian stage of the Cretaceous, around the same time as Ichthyornis. From (1997) *Bizarrely, Chomper is depicted with three fingers, as opposed to two. This error persists into future installments in the franchise, He is also given prominent breasts. *A Giganotosaurus is featured in the film. G. carolini lived in a very short section of the Cenomanian age, long before the days of T. rex. Giganotosaurus also lived in South America, an entire hemisphere away from where T. rex fossils have been discovered. Giganotosaurus also should have a bigger, longer skull than in the movie. It should also have four toes, including a dewclaw connected to the ankle. *In reality, it unlikely that a pair of Tyrannosaurus, together with a baby, could survive on a small island, as there wouldn't be enough to eat to sustain them, especially with a Giganotosaurus also on the island. *Elsie, the Elasmosaurus in this film is depicted raising her entire neck and body out of the water. The real animal, along with most plesiosaurs, was only able to lift its head out of the water, before gravity and its weight pulled it back down. **She is also depicted as being able to bend her neck with a range of motion that would snap the neck of the real animal. **She is also depicted with a shark-like fin on her head, something that is completely unknown in the real animal. **She is also depicted with flat teeth. The real animal had sharp teeth. This was probably done to make her look less fearsome. *The Sharptooth Flyer (Pterodactylus) seen in this film is seen carrying Ducky with one of her hind limbs. This is impossible, as pterosaur feet were not at all built for grabbing objects. **Likewise, it is also seen in this film as a large predatory pterosaur who hunts small dinosaurs. In real life, the animal was small and ate insects. It is also temporally misplaced, as the real Pterodactylus lived in the Tithonian age, 150 to 148 million years ago. **It is also portrayed without the large, fleshy crest on its head, though this discovery was made years after the film's release. From (1998) *Anachronisms: **Doc, the Diplodocus (D. carnegii lived in the Kimmeridgian stage of the late Jurassic, 154 to 152 million years ago.) **Mrs. Maia, the Maiasaura (Maiasaura, though a product of the late Cretaceous, lived in the Campanian age, around 75 million years ago.) *The film's Allosaurus, the Browridge Sharptooth, has multiple problems: **It is depicted with only two visible fingers. This can be considered a highly elementary mistake, as the real dinosaur's three fingers are one of its most notable traits. It is also portrayed with only three visible toes, missing the dewclaw on the ankle. ***Strangely, it is shown with three fingers and four toes in some scenes. It is unknown as to whether the two fingers and three toes were intended, or the three fingers and four toes. **Aside from a fleshy ridge surrounding its eye, the Sharptooth's head is shaped like that of a T. rex. The real Allosaurus had a curved, sloping skull. It should also have a small horn over each eye. **It is depicted as being the same size as a T. rex, when it would have been smaller in reality. ***However, the large size of this Allosaurus could have been based off of Saurophaganax, a larger dinosaur that was a close relative of, if not a species of, Allosaurus. The size of this Allosaurus ''may also be based on the fact that many believe ''Saurophaganax is the same species as Allosaurus, which could boost Allosaurus maximum size. **It is temporally misplaced. Allosaurus lived in the Kimmeridgian and Turonian stages of the late Jurassic, from 155 to 150 million years ago. From (2000) *Anachronisms: **Sierra, the Cearadactylus (C. atrox lived in the Albian stage of the early Cretaceous, 112 million years ago.) **Rinkus, the Rhamphorhynchus (Rhamphorhynchus lived from 150 to 148 million years ago, in the Tithonian stage of the late Jurassic.) *Sierra is seen grasping Ducky with one of his hind limbs. This is impossible, as pterosaur feet were not at all built for grabbing objects. *In this film, the Archaeopteryx appear to lack the three fingers on each wing. They are also depicted as flying like a typical bird. However, the real animal has been shown to have flown in short bursts in a similar manner to pheasants. They are also depicted as being far larger than the real animal as well as being entirely green in color. Though the full color of Archaeopteryx is unknown, it is known that their wings - or at least most of their wings - were black in color. *Rinkus is much larger than a real Rhamphorhynchus, which was only crow-sized. *Rinkus' tail has been shown to be extremely flexible. In reality, Rhamphorynchus ''had a stiff tail that enabled it to make more agile turns in flight. *Kentrosaurus'' should have spikes protruding from their shoulders. *The Gallimimus (Rainbow Faces) are depicted with teeth, and scaly skin. Real Gallimimus lacked teeth, and almost certainly had an ostrich-like covering of feathers. *The Styracosaurus have shorter nose horns than in real life, and their distinctive spiked frills does not quite match what the real animals had. They are also the size of the Triceratops in the series. These errors persists into future installments. *The Edmontosaurus seen in this film lack the small head crest that the real animal had. However, this wasn't discovered until years after the film's release. *In a story told by Grandpa Longneck, explaining the elders' distrust of Pterano, a Utahraptor pack is said to be responsible for the massacre of an entire group of dinosaurs led by the pterosaur. Their depiction is inaccurate for multiple reasons: **They are depicted without feathers. This is somewhat excusable, as the film was likely produced prior to the discovery that most dromaeosaurs were covered in feathering. **They are, bizarrely, depicted with only two fingers. All known dromaeosaurids, with the exception of Balaur bondoc (which is likely not even a dromaeosaur), are known to have three fingers. They also have only three toes, lacking the dew claw on the ankle. **It is unlikely that even a large pack of Utahraptor, let alone the group of three depicted in the film, would be capable of taking down the amount of dinosaurs implied in the scene, let alone dinosaurs such as Ankylosaurus and Styracosaurus. They are also able to take hits from a club tail without injury, something that would shatter their skulls. **Their necks are too long, and their limbs are too thin. Utahraptor was a rather strangely built dromaeosaur, having a large head, a short, thick neck, thick limbs, and a stocky body. **They are, as with most creatures in The Land Before Time, temporally misplaced. Utahraptor lived during the Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous, around 126 million years ago. *''Quetzalcoatlus'' had a larger head and shorter wings than the one in the film, and its head should also have a crest. It is also now known to be a terrestrial macro-predator. From (2001) * The Camptosaurus in this film is portrayed as semi-aquatic and resembling a prosauropod, unlike the real animal. From (2002) *In this film, as seen in The Stone of Cold Fire, Archaeopteryx is missing the three fingers on their wings. Also, as seen in The Stone of Cold Fire, they are depicted as flying like a typical bird. However, the real animal has been shown to have flown in short bursts in a similar manner to pheasants. They are also depicted with wings that are yellow (like most of the rest of their bodies), with brown flight feathers; though the full color of Archaeopteryx is unknown, it is known that their wings - or at least most of their wings - were black in color. *The Elasmosaurus seen in this film have the same shark-like fin on their heads as Elsie, which the real animal didn't have. *Seahorses are seen in Mo's Home, despite the fact that seahorses didn't evolve until the Neogene period of the Cenozoic. *The film's Liopleurodon is much larger than the real animal, about twice the size (the real Liopleurodon was no longer than 20 feet). This may have been a reference to Walking With Dinosaurs, which erroneously portrayed the animal as 25 meters long, or 82 feet. However, it wasn't quite as large as the one from the BBC programme. From (2003) *The Compsognathus seen in this film are depicted without feathery coats, which can be inferred by its relation with the definitively feathered Sinosauropteryx. *The back osteoderms on the Saltasaurus seen in this film appear to be more like spots than scale-like structures. These errors persist into Journey of the Brave. *The Amargasaurus seen in this film have sails on their necks. While scientists did believe this to be true when this film was made, it is now generally believed that the real animal's neck spines were exposed to better permit neck mobility. From (2005) *In this film, the adult Mussaurus are similar in size to or smaller than the younger members of the species, when they should be larger. The Mussaurus also look more like generic sauropods, when they should resemble something like Plateosaurus. From (2007) *After the Universal logo is shown in the opening, the continents merge back into the supercontinent, Pangaea. Pangaea existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, whereas the events in the franchise take place during the late Mesozoic era. *The Postosuchus shown in the opening narration is depicted as quadrupedal, while the real animal most likely bipedal. *Guido, the Microraptor character introduced in the film, has a number of issues: **He is depicted with a toothless, parrot-like beak. Actual Microraptor heads were much more similar to those of other dromaeosaurs, being slender with sharp teeth. **He is shown with teal and green feathers, whereas recent studies have inferred that Microraptor was an iridescent black, similar to a crow or raven. **He is depicted with wings on his arms, and his arms only. One of the most defining features of Microraptor is that it bore four wings, on both its arms and its legs. **He is depicted with a humanoid body plan. The real Microraptor had a bird-like body as with every other dromaeosaur. **He is missing both a dew claw on his ankle and the raised toe-claw on his feet. **He has four fingers instead of three. *The Scaphognathus seen in this film is depicted as much larger than the real animal. It lacks teeth, which were present in the real animal's beak. *The Cryptoclidus seen in this film have no teeth, unlike the real animal, although this may be because of their imaginary nature or their presence in a musical number. They are also seen living in freshwater, unlike the real animal, which would have lived in saltwater. *The Spinosaurus depicted in the film has multiple issues, largely due to having been superseded by recent discoveries: **It is depicted as a fast, agile runner. Though it is unclear whether or not the recent neotype is valid, some scientists believe that, with the newly discovered short legs of the creature, it would likely be very slow and awkward on land. **Perhaps because of its short legs, it would have had a more upright posture, with the neck held vertically like a duck or a pelican. **Its skull is reminiscent of Suchomimus, lacking the real animal's nasal crest and the kink in its premaxilla (upper jaw). **Its nostrils are located on the tip of its snout, when they should be placed near its eyes. **It is, akin to the series' Utahraptor, Deinonychus, and Allosaurus, depicted with only two fingers and only three toes. Real life Spinosaurus had three fingers, likely with a large claw on the first finger, and four toes, with the dew claw touching the ground. **Its sail is similar to that of a Dimetrodon, and lacks the recently discovered kink. **It is depicted as a terrestrial predator, whereas the real animal is now known to be largely aquatic and most likely had webbed feet. Even during the time the film was made, it was known to have been a fish-eater, but it may have occasionally hunted small dinosaurs and pterosaurs like the one in the film does. **Finally, it is temporally misplaced. Spinosaurus lived from 112 to 97 million years ago, during the Albian and Cenomanian stages of the middle Cretaceous. From (2007) *The Yellow Bellies carry only a very vague resemblance to the dinosaur Beipiaosaurus, which they are explicitly stated to be in promotional materials, for various reasons: **Their claws are much too short. B. inexpectus was a therizinosaur, a type of theropod dinosaurs known for having very long, sharp claws. **Yellow Bellies carry a striking resemblance to the recently extinct Dodo, while their real life counterparts own a body plan much more resemblant of related ornithomimids and tyrannosaurs, resembling an avian bear to a degree. **Though correctly depicted with feathers, their feathers are depicted as being restricted to their rumps and the tops of their heads. They should be fully covered in hair-like plumage. **Oddly, the Yellow Bellies completely lack a tail, aside from a "ponytail" of feathers sprouting from their rumps. **The Yellow Bellies have four fingers on each hand, instead of just three like in real life. They also have only three toes, lacking the dew claw which touches the ground. **Last but not least, they are also temporally misplaced: Beipiaosaurus inexpectus lived in the Aptian stage of the early Cretaceous, 124 million years ago. *The Baryonyx pack featured in the film have robust skulls, with nostrils placed on the end of the snout instead of near the eyes. They're also inconsistently drawn with three fingers (the correct number) or four fingers, none of which having the famous enlarged claw. The dew claw on the Baryonyx is also positioned high up near the leg, and not on the ankle where it should be. Also, as with Spinosaurus, they should be living near bodies of water given their largely piscivorous diet. From the TV series General *Ruby and the other Oviraptor are too large for their species (closer in size to Citipati than Oviraptor), and are somewhat lacking in feathers. They are also portrayed with four fingers when they should have only three. In the Episodes *The Stegoceras seen in the episodes and are depicted with only two digits per limb; actual Stegoceras had five fingers per forelimb and four toes per hind limb. *In , Chomper states that Red Claw won't notice the gang if they stay still. In real life, Tyrannosaurus rex had extremely good binocular vision and could see its prey even if they weren't moving. **However, this is likely just a reference to the 1993 film Jurassic Park, where the T. rex suffers from the same limitation, and Red Claw begins to use his nose to sniff them out anyway. *The Protoceratops seen in the episode, , has a nose horn, a feature that the real animal lacked. This is likely due to it being an upscaled and color-changed model of Cera. *The Achillobator seen in are depicted with no feathers and no dewclaws. They are also temporally misplaced; Achillobator around 90 million years ago, during the Turonian age of the Cretaceous. *The Sinornithomimus (Hidden Runner) from the episode, , is depicted with only two fingers on each hand and only two toes on each foot; actual Sinornithomimus had three-toed feet and three claws per hand. Hidden Runner is also naked; he should be covered in feathers, not unlike those of an ostrich. *In the episode, , an herbivorous Microceratus (the Great Hideous Beast) is seen terrorizing a group of Ceratogaulus. This is scientifically inaccurate for multiple reasons: **Being a small, peaceful herbivore, Microceratus would have very little reason to attack a small colony of mammals. ***However, it's implied that it was terrorizing the Ceratogaulus simply for their food. **The hands of the Microceratus are very different than what the real animal had. They are drawn as resembling a theropod's, with three-fingered hands. **Both of the animals are temporally misplaced. Microceratus lived in the Turonian, 90 million years ago, while Ceratogaulus lived during the Neogene period of the Cenozoic. *Swooper the Harpactognathus, from , should have a crest that extends to the tip of his beak. He should also have sharp needle-like teeth, and a carnivorous diet as opposed to an herbivorous one. From (2016) *Etta the Pteranodon is portrayed as a sizable character, with a large crest. These two traits are only known from male Pteranodon, even though Etta is a female. She also has four small fingers on each of her wings, when she should only have three. **She also (perhaps curiously, given their presence on the series' other Pteranodon) completely lacks pycnofibres. *The Yutyrannus pair featured in this film have four fingers on each hand, when they should have only three and are somewhat lacking in feathers. They are also, as per most creatures in The Land Before Time, temporally misplaced; Yutyrannus hailed from the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous, approximately 125 million years ago. * The Carnotaurus featured in the film has several inaccuracies: **It is depicted with visible fingers. C. sastrei, alongside most other abelisaurids, did not have visible appendages on their forelimbs, with their arms having severely atrophied down the evolutionary path. Similarly, it is depicted with three fingers; actual Carnotaurus had four fingers. **Its arms are depicted as being longer than in real life, and the arms face forward instead of being pulled backward like in the real animal. **It is depicted with large, forward facing horns, while the real animal had short horns which faced either upward or sideways, depending on the depiction. **It is depicted as large and stocky, while the real animal was smaller and had a leaner body to allow it to run faster. **In the movie, it was far more agile than we believe they were. *Both the Yutyrannus and the Carnotaurus have very "shrinkwrapped" skulls, being depicted with visible antiorbital fenestrae and no lips. This is a practice that has been highly contested in recent years. *Though confirmed to be a Nothronychus by official media, Wild Arms is much smaller than the real creature. He also has short, fingernail-like claws as opposed to long, sharp claws, as well as scant feathers. He's also missing the dew claw which touches the ground. *The Ornithomimus should have feathers, and only three fingers, as opposed to four. *The Juravenator featured in this film, or Diggers, are quite flawed: **They are depicted as being able to dig, something that the real animal was likely incapable of doing. **They are depicted as frugivores; actual Juravenator were most likely obligate carnivores. **All of the Diggers but the "Skinny Digger" lack any sort of plumage, despite the fact that one of the known specimens of Juravenator have traces of what may be feathers. *At the beginning of the movie, a T. rex and a Stegosaurus are shown fighting. In reality, they lived millions of years apart, even longer than the time distance between T. rex and humans. **However, this is likely just a reference to the Disney movie Fantasia, which features the same anachronistic fight between these two dinosaurs. *As in The Great Longneck Migration, the back osteoderms on the Saltasaurus seen in this film appear to be more like spots instead of scale-like structures. Anachronisms Many of the creatures seen in the films and television series are anachronistic, as they didn't live in the Late Cretaceous period where the franchise is set. This section lists all known anachronisms in order of the time period they actually belong to. Ediacran *''Cyclomedusa'' Cambrian *Trilobite Ordivician *''Estonioceras'' *''Megalograptus'' *Trilobite Silurian *''Brontoscorpio'' *Trilobite Devonian *''Dipterus'' *''Eusthenopteron'' *''Hynerpeton'' *''Orthacanthus'' *''Osteolepis'' *Trilobite Carboniferous *''Archimylacris'' *''Arthropleura'' *''Eryops'' *''Greererpeton'' *''Ianthasaurus'' *''Ichthyostega'' *''Janassa'' *''Meganeura'' *''Megarachne'' *''Orthacanthus'' *''Petrolacosaurus'' *''Sandalodus'' *Trilobite Permian *''Cacops'' *''Dimetrodon'' *''Diplocaulus'' *''Edaphosaurus'' *''Eryops'' *''Estemmenosuchus'' *''Hovasaurus'' *''Janassa'' *''Moschops'' *''Orthacanthus'' *''Pareiasaurus'' *''Platyhystrix'' *''Prionosuchus'' *''Protorosaurus'' *''Scutosaurus'' *Trilobite Triassic *''Coelophysis'' *''Dapedium'' *''Diphydontosaurus'' *''Drepanosaurus'' *''Euparkeria'' *''Hypsognathus'' *''Icarosaurus'' *''Isanosaurus'' *''Kuehneosaurus'' *''Lagosuchus'' *''Marasuchus'' *''Megazostrodon'' *''Mussaurus'' *''Nothosaurus'' *''Peteinosaurus'' *''Placochelys'' *''Placodus'' *''Planocephalosaurus'' *''Plateosaurus'' *''Postosuchus'' *''Preondactylus'' *''Proganochelys'' *''Saltopus'' *''Semionotus'' *''Triadobatrachus'' *''Trilophosaurus'' Jurassic *''Allosaurus'' *''Amphicoelias'' *''Apatosaurus'' *''Archaeolepis'' *''Archaeopteryx'' *''Ardeosaurus'' *''Barosaurus'' *''Blapsium'' *''Brachiosaurus'' *''Brachytrachelopan'' *''Brontosaurus'' *''Camarasaurus'' *''Camptosaurus'' *''Campylognathoides'' *''Cetiosaurus'' *''Coelophysis'' *''Compsognathus'' *''Cryptoclidus'' *''Dapedium'' *''Dimorphodon'' *''Diplodocus'' *''Dryosaurus'' *''Elaphrosaurus'' *''Eryon'' *''Euhelopus'' *''Europasaurus'' *''Germanodactylus'' *''Giraffatitan'' *''Glyptops'' *''Goniopholis'' *''Haplocanthosaurus'' *''Harpactognathus'' *''Heterodontosaurus'' *''Karaurus'' *''Kentrosaurus'' *''Lepidotes'' *''Leptolepis'' *''Liopleurodon'' *''Lourinhasaurus'' *''Lufengosaurus'' *''Mamenchisaurus'' *''Megalosaurus'' *''Megazostrodon'' *''Mesoleuctra'' *''Metriacanthosaurus'' *''Muraenosaurus'' *''Omeisaurus'' *''Opthalmosaurus'' *''Ornitholestes'' *''Paramacellodus'' *''Patagosaurus'' *''Pentasteria'' *''Prosalirus'' *''Protosuchus'' *''Pterodactylus'' *''Rhamphorhynchus'' *''Rhoetosaurus'' *''Scaphognathus'' *''Scelidosaurus'' *''Stegosaurus'' *''Supersaurus'' *''Ultrasauros'' *''Zigongosaurus'' Earlier in the Cretaceous *''Achillobator'' *''Acrocanthosaurus'' *''Altirhinus'' *''Amargasaurus'' *''Archelon'' *''Argentinosaurus'' *''Beipiaosaurus'' *''Cearadactylus'' *''Chasmosaurus'' *''Confuciusornis'' *''Corythosaurus'' *''Cyclobatis'' *''Daspletosaurus'' *''Dreadnoughtus'' *''Dromaeosaurus'' *''Elasmosaurus'' *''Euoplocephalus'' *''Giganotosaurus'' *''Hylaeosaurus'' *''Ichthyornis'' *''Iguanodon'' *''Jeholornis'' *''Kronosaurus'' *''Lambeosaurus'' *''Ludodactylus'' *''Macrogryphosaurus'' *''Malawisaurus'' *''Mantellisaurus'' *''Mawsonia'' *''Microceratus'' *''Microraptor'' *''Minmi'' *''Muttaburrasaurus'' *''Nodosaurus'' *''Nothronychus'' *''Ouranosaurus'' *''Pelorosaurus'' *''Pentasteria'' *''Pinacosaurus'' *''Polacanthus'' *''Protoceratops'' *''Protohadros'' *''Protostega'' *''Pteranodon'' *''Sauroposeidon'' *''Scolosaurus'' *''Sinornis'' *''Spinosaurus'' *''Stegoceras'' *''Steropodon'' *''Styracosaurus'' *''Tenontosaurus'' *''Unquillosaurus'' *''Utahraptor'' *''Wannanosaurus'' *''Yabeinosaurus'' *''Yutyrannus'' *''Zhejiangopterus'' Paleocene *''Anqingosaurus'' *''Ptilodus'' Eocene *''Lithodryas'' Oligocene *''Andrias'' *''Megalodon'' Miocene *''Andrias'' *''Ceratogaulus'' *''Lystromycter'' *''Megalochelys'' *''Megalodon'' *''Meiolania'' *''Potamotherium'' Pliocene *''Ceratogaulus'' *''Megalochelys'' *''Megalodon'' *''Meiolania'' Pleistocene *''Ceratogaulus'' *''Megalania'' *''Megalochelys'' *''Meiolania'' *''Teratornis'' Holocene *Conquered Lorikeet *''Meiolania'' *Moa Category:Lists Category:Miscellaneous